Albert Gore was born in Toccopola, Miss., and now lives in Starkville. He earned a bachelor's from Millsaps College in 1952 and a master's of divinity from Duke University in 1957.

Gore is a retired United Methodist minister and retired chaplain for the U.S. Army Special Forces working with the Green Berets. Gore served in Vietnam and retired from the military with the rank of colonel.

Gore says he thinks he is distantly related to former Vice President Al Gore, but he does not know how.

His first wife, the mother of his two children, is deceased. He was remarried to his second wife, Bobbie, who has two of her own children.

Democrat Albert Gore is making his first run for elected office in 2012, challenging Republican U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker.

Gore won the March 2012 Democratic primary by defeating two other low-budget candidates, Will Oatis of Silver Creek and Roger Weiner of Clarksdale.

Gore serves on the Mississippi Democratic executive committee and was chairman of the Oktibbeha County Democratic Party for eight years. He gave up the county chairmanship when he entered the Senate race. Gore also has served as head of the Mississippi Association of County Democratic chairmen.

The Federal Election Commission website showed Gore had not filed a campaign finance report as of early July 2012. Gore says he is not accepting donations from political action committees. He says he is running a "low-key campaign," mostly using his own money. He says most of his campaign expenses are for gasoline to travel around the state and speak to potential voters.

Gore says he's seeking office because he wants to provide a voice for everyday people and to preserve entitlement programs.

"I believe that there are several things that need to be retained in our society such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and that we need to work on the problems we have with poverty, work on the other health problems we have associated with that, which means diabetes, overweight, so forth," Gore told The Associated Press. "I think that the government does have a good role to play because you've got to cover 50 states, not just one."